Four Stages of Competence
A learning model describing the psychological states from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence.
Also known as: Conscious competence learning model, Competence hierarchy
Category: Concepts
Tags: learning, psychology, skill-development, self-improvement, expertise
Explanation
The Four Stages of Competence is a popular psychological learning model that describes the progression we go through when acquiring any new skill. The stages are: (1) Unconscious incompetence - we don't know what we don't know, our view is narrow, and our intuition is often wrong; (2) Conscious incompetence - we begin to realize how much we have yet to learn, and progress requires experimentation and embracing failure; (3) Conscious competence - we can perform tasks independently but still need focused effort and have knowledge gaps; (4) Unconscious competence - the skill becomes second nature, feeling intuitive and effortless. Understanding these stages helps set realistic expectations during learning and explains why initial confidence may be misplaced. This model has a close relationship with the Dunning-Kruger effect, as both deal with self-awareness of one's abilities at different skill levels.
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